The Wind Blows

[Mira Nightingale]

The market place was like usual. It was filled with bustling people, the babble of many people talking, the clomp of horses hooves, the shouts of merchants and shopkeepers trying to sell their products, and the noises of animals like pigs, ducks and goats.

Mira, wearing small purple, slipper-like shoes and a soft lilac morning gown with a jeweled neckline and sleeves, and a darker purple satin cloak, was walking around peering at the wares that were being sold. A small handbag was clutched in her hand, containing a good handful of gold incase she found anything that caught her eye.

And something did catch her eye. A merchant selling jewelry had a bracelet made of purple stones, with a clasp of what looked like silver, lying on the table in front of him along with many other jewels and things she’d like.

She started toward the merchant when a great gust of wind swept through the area, ripping her cloak from her shoulders and blowing it away, dancing it on the wind tauntingly in front of her. She chased after it for a good minute before the wind whipped it down a side alley. Not thinking about where she was going, Mira followed it for another long minute or two before the wind gave up and dropped it on the ground.

Mira rushed forward and picked it up; starting to dust off the dirt that it had gained from being thrown on the ground. That finished as best as it could be done, Mira straightened up and realized, with a strange twinge of fear, that she wasn’t exactly sure which way she had come. And more importantly, she was one of the small alleys that usually were home to the type of people she didn’t want to come across.

[Aleph il'Aranroth]

((OOC: Hope you don't mind if I join...)

Aleph had been out on his 3-month circuit, looking for work and the occasional scrap. He'd started to run low on food, so he'd decided to stop in Avaren for a day or two. Just long enough to get more food and a little rest. And to let his horse rest up. The poor beast hadn't had more than a night's rest in a month.

He was wandering the streets today. He'd arrived yesterday and decided to stay a second night, so he needed something to do. Since this was his first visit to the city in a couple years he was seeing what had changed and what hadn't. There wasn't much that had changed. As he wandered, he moved along through back alleys. They were usually good places to find a fight, but whether because of his armor or bearing, or some other thing he didn't know of, no one was bothering him. In fact, one alley was completely empty except for a well-dressed woman picking up a cloak. As she stood, he nodded his head in her direction and said, "Good day, milady."

[Mira Nightingale]

((No, no problem. This thread is here so I can meet new people))

Happy with the quick dusting off of her cloak, she swung it back over her shoulders and fastened the clasp securely. She couldn’t have it blowing away again, and she most definitely didn’t want to get even more lost and uncoordinated than she already was. Standing up straight, she turned slowly on her heels, surveying all the merging alleys and wondering which way she had come from, nervousness starting to eat at her mind.

Suddenly, someone came out of one of the other alleys. It was a man wearing heavy armor, and he looked battle worn, like he was good with a sword or some other kind of weapon. Mira had crossed too many warriors these days, increasing her confidence around them, but still she was nervous. Being lost in an alley made her even more nervous.

The man seemed friendly, however, and even as she took a wary step backward he nodded his head in her direction and bid her good day. “Um, good day to you, too.” she said hesitantly, not sure if he was friendly or hostile. He seemed friendly, at least, but looks could be deceiving.

[Aleph il'Aranroth]

Aleph smiled warmly at the lady. She seemed a bit ill at ease, even though he meant her no harm. Of course, they were secluded in a back alley and she was obviously rich. No doubt she feared someone, namely him, was going to rob her. So he would have to do his best to dispell that notion.

"Does my lady require assistance of any kind?" he asked politely. "I am a sword for hire if my lady needs a bodyguard," he offered. Despite the fact that he had no intention of robbing her, he was more than willing to make some money off this encounter.

[Mira Nightingale]

When the stranger offered his assistance as a sword for hire, for a price, Mira eyed him warily. Should she waste a good gold coin asking him to help her find her way out of the alleys, or should she risk finding the way herself and getting even more lost? Not wanting to meet any unsavory characters, she finally offered the stranger a small smile.

“Just help finding my way out of this maze of back alleys would be appreciated.” she told him after a moment’s thought. “But first, if you don’t mind, I would like to ask your name.” she finished, not thinking her request an unreasonable one. If he wanted money, she’d give him a piece of gold after she was well clear of these shady places. But she was going to take her time and learn a few things about him first, since five minutes definitely didn’t earn a random stranger a solid gold shilling.

[Rotiart]

It had started out as such a slow day. It seemed as if nothing at all of any interest was going on today. The marketplace was bustling as usual without any public scenes, traffic moved slowly in and out of the city without a fuss. There hadn't even been so much as a bar fight that needed to be broken up. All in all, today had been a dull day.

It was the only thought Rotiart had in mind when he had first left his post as Gatekeeper in the hands of a lesser guardsman, seeing as how no event in need of too great of attention was occurring anywhere, much less at the Gates. Of course, as usually happens when one has their head in the clouds and not on their feet, they end up losing their way.

It was thus that when he finally began to pay attention to where he had wandered, he realized he had never been in this portion of town before. In fact, the knowledge of the actual interior of this city was limited at best. He knew his section to uphold, in addition to the path between it and his home, yet not much else.

After a short while of aimless attempted backtracking through the narrow corridors between buildings, it was with some relief that he stumbled upon two people. People, who, by the looks of them, were not the normal street riffraff one might have expected. Instead, he found himself facing one who looked to be of some noble family, accompanied by one who Rotiart assumed must surely be either her knight brother, or an escort hired by the noble girl's father to keep her from harm.

"Excuse me, you two," he said, walking over to where they stood, "I seem to have gotten a bit turned around. If you could you point me back towards the marketplace, I would be ever grateful."

[Mira Nightingale]

Mira was just about to give up on the stranger who wanted money, but wouldn’t speak, when more footsteps were heard from the other converging alleys. She turned her head, prepared to take a step back if the newcomer looked dangerous at all, but he didn’t appear to be a dodgy sort. She opened her mouth to ask him if he would kindly show her the way out of the alleys, when he spoke and said that, more of less, he was lost too.

Hanging her head and letting out a laugh, Mira looked back up at him, her eyes sparkling with a bit of mirth. “Well, stranger, you’re not the only one.” she told him with a slight shake of her head. “I’m lost as well, and this…” she paused, looking over at Aleph who still hadn’t spoken or told her his name, “this traveler” she settled on, “was just going to show me the way back to the market. You’re welcome to join us.”

[Aleph il'Aranroth]

"I'm afraid that I do not know Avaren well, so I am as lost as either of you," Aleph told them. "And my name is Aleph il'Aranroth," he added, speaking to the lady. "Despite the fact that none of us knows which way to go or where we are, we can certainly try to find the marketplace together. I have nothing better to do." It was true. Nobody was around to fight, he didn't have any reason to go shopping, and he'd grown tired of sitting in the tavern listening to gossip and talk about the weather. At least this promised to be somewhat interesting. And with another fighter there to help, Aleph didn't need to worry about finding a group of bandits.

[Mira Nightingale]

Finally, the first man spoke, introducing himself as Aleph. He also mentioned that he didn’t know Avaren well, and was just as lost. Mira sighed softly, running her fingers through her red hair. Now they were all lost in the maze of back alleys. Eyeing both the men, she decided that if they came across any unsavory characters the two were enough to deal with them.

“Well, we might as well get moving.” she suggested, starting them on the way to find their way out and back to the market. “Any idea at all which direction is the right way?”

[Rotiart]

"Ugh," Rotiart exclaimed, partly in frustration, partly in bemusement, as it seemed they both were intent on moving, yet neither one was willing to take the first step. "I'll not wait around discussing where to go, as even then we could never come to any solid conclusion."

"My name is Rotiart, in case you actually cared, though you haven't yet asked," stepping past the both of them, he began moving off in a completely random direction, "I doubt we'll get anywhere standing here, let's stick together and we'll find the marked eventually. After all, how large can one city be?"

[Mira Nightingale]

“It’s nice to meet you, Rotiart.” Mira murmured after a moment, feeling a little bad for not asking his name sooner. She would have eventually, of course, but at the moment she was so focused on finding someway out of the labyrinth. He started off, and with a quick glance at Aleph, she took off after him. Catching up after a moment, she fell into step beside him. “One city can’t be too large.” she said, answering his question, although she knew it wasn’t much of an answer.

A silence fell for a moment, and she glanced back at Aleph, who was still standing in the same spot. “Are you coming?” she said, raising her voice so he could hear her. Turning back to Rotiart she sighed softly. “I’m terribly sorry about not asking your name, sir.” she told him, hoping her apology would suffice.

[Tyanno Dynam, Allaine mage]

Tyanno had waited long enough. It had been two days Alezand had entered the city again. he should be ready by now. Tyanno had packed up both mens gear and made his way to the city. He had made it through the main gate without much trouble. No one had recognized him. But on the side of caution, he decided to head through the alleys. dark, unforgiving, these were a place to avoid for most people. But an warrior of his type thrived in these places, for the were some many wrongs to be rigthed and too many evils to slay. It was the mission of an Allaine warrior or mage to protect the people from all darkness. He turned another corner and stopped. three individuals stood conversing animatedly amongst themselves. Tyanno didn't feel like going around, so he pulled his hood over his head and pressed onward. upon closer inspection, Tyanno noticed that though he did not know the two men, except that one was wearing the garb of a gatekeeper, he instantly recognized the red headed woman standing there. One of Alezands aquintences, Mira, he believed her name was. he struggled with the decision whether to aid those who were obviously lost or to keep a low profile, for surely Mira would recognize him. his mind was still reeling as he drew close to the group, not making eye contact...



occ(hey, mira, didn't you use that thread back at the old site, gotta take better care of that cloak, lol)

[Mira Nightingale]

The three of them continued walking, most of the time in silence. From what Mira could tell, they were still hopelessly lost and not making any progress at all. It was truly a shame that her cloak was causing her so many problems. If it had just stayed fastened then she could have already bought that bracelet she had been looking at, and maybe could have been looking at something else to buy, or even be on her way home. Alas, it seemed that it wasn’t to be today.

Taken out of her thoughts for a moment, she saw a hooded and cloaked figure walking toward them, and it seemed like the person didn’t want to be noticed. That just made her all the more wary, even though she had two warriors with her at the moment. She cleared her throat loudly to get the attention of all three in the area, and stopped in her tracks to watch the newcomer.

((Haha, you caught me, lol.))

[Tyanno Dynam, Allaine mage]

Damn, not what he wanted. Ah oh well. he pulled back his hood slightly to be recognized andlet it quickly fall back over his face. "Hello Mira, it is I, Tyanno Dynam. I am Alezand's Apprentice, remember? I am surprised you didn't recognize the cloak. No one else here wears this color shceme and symbols. I assure you, I mean you all no harm. In these dark times, us heroes (or heroes in training, he thought to himself) sometimes need to pass unnoticed. I can see that you are lost and I can direct you on which way to go if you promise me to forget you even saw me here. Do we have a deal?" He spoke all this rather briskly and though his voice was lowered, it still commanded attention. There were spies everywhere, hunting the warriors and mages who know of their plot to destroy this land. One was never too careful these days...

[Mira Nightingale]

The stranger pulled back his hood and introduced himself as Tyanno. Mira remembered him, but the recognition was vague, she didn’t let him know that, though. “Hello.” she said instead, taking a step toward the familiar face and away from the two new ones. “And yes, I am lost. Directions would be greatly appreciated to us all, I think.” She paused for a moment before nodding once again. “Deal.”

((Sorry for the blah post… I had school today… ))